Reign continue winning streak with win over Dash

Continuing its winning ways, the Seattle Reign cruised past the Houston Dash in a 2-0 win at Memorial Stadium in Seattle, Wash. tonight.

After being pulled down 18 minutes into the match, Seattle’s Jess Fishlock took a quick restart, sliding the ball up the left flank to teammate Sydney Leroux.Dribbling into the box, Leroux was tripped by Houston’s Becky Edwards. Without hesitation, the referee pointed to the penalty spot.

Stepping up for Seattle once again was Scottish international Kim Little, who calmly slot the ball home into Dash goalkeeper Erin McLeod’s goal. Less than 20 minutes later, Little found her way on the score sheet once again.

Seattle’s Bev Goebel sent a long ball up the field—going over the heads of Dash defenders—where Little was waiting. With McLeod running toward her, Little calmly shook the goalkeeper off and doubled the home team’s lead.

The first half showed great pressure from the Reign. Houston forward Kealia Ohai made a great runs up the field, but the Dash were easily dispossessed and struggled to get the ball away from the middle third of the field. Seconds before halftime, Houston’s Ella Masar nearly cut Seattle’s lead in half, taking a shot inside the box from the ground, but the ball sailed wide of Hope Solo’s goal.

The second half saw the Reign continuing to dominate the run of play, but the team couldn’t convert a third goal. Arguably the best chance for the home team to score a third was in the 90th minute when forward Sydney Leroux made a fantastic run down the field. With McLeod running out, the forward attempted to round the goalkeeper, but the tight angle proved to be too much and the ball smacked into the outside of the left post.

The win leaves the Reign at the top of the NWSL leaderboard with nine points. In three matches, the team has scored eight goals while only conceding one—from the penalty spot. Houston is currently in fifth place with three points. The team is 1-2-0 and has scored three goals, while giving up five.

Next up, the Reign hit the road for the first time this season, squaring off against Sky Blue FC on Wednesday evening at Yurcak Field. The Dash have a slightly longer rest—next hosting last-place FC Kansas City at BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday night.

Woman of the Match: Seattle’s Kim Little has been nothing short of stellar for the Reign thus far. The midfielder added two more goals to her name and her second goal tonight showed her intelligent and calm composure on the ball.